Deconstructing European poverty measures: What relative and absolute scales measure

Burkhauser, Richard V.

doi:10.1002/pam.20468

Cited by 46 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The NAS panel devoted a good deal of attention to this challenge. One of the most controversial issues in setting new thresholds was whether the new measure should be absolute or relative (Burkhauser, ). An absolute poverty measure—such as the U.S. OPM—compares a family's resources to a fixed threshold, which is only updated year‐to‐year based on changes in inflation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waging War on Poverty: Poverty Trends Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure

Fox

Wimer

Garfinkel³

et al. 2015

J Policy Anal Manage

128

124

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Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we provide poverty estimates for 1967 to 2012 based on a historical Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). During this period, poverty, as officially measured, has stagnated. However, the official poverty measure (OPM) does not account for the effect of near-cash transfers on the financial resources available to families, an important omission since such transfers have become an increasingly important part of government anti-poverty policy. Applying the historical SPM, which does count such transfers, we find that trends in poverty have been more favorable than the OPM suggests and that government policies have played an important and growing role in reducing poverty—a role that is not evident when the OPM is used to assess poverty. We also find that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waging War on Poverty: Poverty Trends Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure

Fox

Wimer

Garfinkel³

et al. 2015

J Policy Anal Manage

128

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The NAS panel devoted a good deal of attention to this challenge. One of the most controversial issues in setting new thresholds was whether the new measure should be absolute or relative (Burkhauser, 2009). An absolute poverty measure-such as the U.S. OPM-compares a family's resources to a fixed threshold, which is only updated year-to-year based on changes in inflation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During recessions, a relative definition of poverty will perversely indicate that poverty has decreased if median income families are more adversely affected than low-income families, whereas an absolute measure of poverty would typically show an increase in poverty. Relative definitions of poverty also indicate increasing levels of poverty in some developing countries such as China and Ireland during periods when economic growth lifted all boats and led to phenomenal reductions in absolute poverty (Blank 2008;Burkhauser, 2009;Garfinkel, Rainwater, & Smeeding, 2010). examine the family unit-or those bound by blood, marriage, or adoption-the SPM broadens this definition to include cohabiters and their children, and some unrelated and foster children living in the household.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waging War on Poverty: Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure

Fox¹,

Garfinkel²,

Kaushal³

et al. 2014

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Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the March Current Population Survey, we provide poverty estimates for 1967 to 2012 based on a historical supplemental poverty measure (SPM). During this period, poverty, as officially measured, has stagnated. However, the official poverty measure (OPM) does not account for the effect of near-cash transfers on the financial resources available to families, an important omission since such transfers have become an increasingly important part of government antipoverty policy. Applying the historical SPM, which does count such transfers, we find that trends in poverty have been more favorable than the OPM suggests and that government policies have played an important and growing role in reducing poverty-a role that is not evident when the OPM is used to assess poverty. We also find that government programs have played a particularly important role in alleviating child poverty and deep poverty, especially during economic downturns. C 2015 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

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“…Official poverty in the United States is measured using an absolute standard, in contrast to the relative poverty measure used in many other countries and the OECD (Burkhauser, 2009;Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2015). The U.S. official poverty measure is determined by comparing total pre-tax family cash income to poverty thresholds, which vary by family size, the number of children, and the presence of elderly persons.…”

Section: Measuring Child Povertymentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States

Bitler

Hoynes

Kuka

2016

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In this paper, we comprehensively examine the effects of the Great Recession on child poverty, with particular attention to the role of the social safety net in mitigating the adverse effects of shocks to earnings and income. Using a state panel data model and data for 2000 to 2014, we estimate the relationship between the business cycle and child poverty, and we examine how and to what extent the safety net is providing protection to at-risk children. We find compelling evidence that the safety net provides protection; that is, the cyclicality of after-tax-and-transfer child poverty is significantly attenuated relative to the cyclicality of private income poverty. We also find that the protective effect of the safety net is not similar across demographic groups, and that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds, such as those living with Hispanic or single heads, or particularly those living with immigrant household heads-or immigrant spouses-experience larger poverty cyclicality than those living with non-Hispanic white or married heads, or those living with native household heads with native spouses. Our findings hold across a host of choices for how to define poverty. These include measures based on absolute thresholds or more relative thresholds. They also hold for measures of resources that include not only cash and near-cash transfers net of taxes but also several measures of the value of public medical benefits. C 2016 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

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Deconstructing European poverty measures: What relative and absolute scales measure

Cited by 46 publications

References 13 publications

Waging War on Poverty: Poverty Trends Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure

Waging War on Poverty: Poverty Trends Using a Historical Supplemental Poverty Measure

Waging War on Poverty: Historical Trends in Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure

Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States

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